The Perfect Family: from tragedy to triumph

The Perfect Family: from tragedy to triumph

CLINTON, Utah (ABC 4 News) - For a Clinton woman getting pregnant was easy. Yet the perfect family she dreamed about was far from reach after the revelation that having healthy babies of her own was nearly impossible.

CLINTON, Utah (ABC 4 News) - For a Clinton woman getting pregnant was easy. Yet the perfect family she dreamed about was far from reach after the revelation that having healthy babies of her own was nearly impossible.

Katy Blakely booms with pride over pictures of her beautiful baby boys. A family was always part of her plan.

“You always have that dream of being a mom and having kids,” she said. Kids were on their way once Katy was pregnant, but it's what happened next that turned her life upside down.

“When I got pregnant, we were super happy, super excited and then we found out, we had an ultrasound done and found out that our son had something wrong,” she said.

That's when Katy found out having healthy babies was out of the question. Doctors told her she carried the gene that caused Conradihunnerman Syndrome, a rare condition never before seen in Utah.

“So the doctors had to do all kinds of research. What they did find is that babies with this syndrome don't normally make it to birth,” she said.

But both of Katy’s sons did. Kayson and Xander were born two years apart, but they were deaf and blind suffering complications that cut their life short to only two months.

“It's nothing you anticipate,” she said. “No one anticipates burying their children at the age of 26.” At that young age depression set in.

“Pause crying, but as a mother, it was heart-wrenching and hard,” she said. “It was a difficult thing for me to go through.”

It made her feel like the perfect family was out of reach. “It hurt at first to realize that I couldn't bring healthy children into this world,” she said.

But with the help of medication, family and a new hope Katy has moved forward. After the death of their sons, Katy and her husband chose to care for foster children. That's when three-year-old Maddie arrived at their home. The connection was almost instant.

“We knew, we had that overwhelming feeling that she was going to be ours somehow,” she said.

About six months later it was official. Maddie was adopted. Katy's dreams of the perfect family were a reality.

“Every day I wake up and realize how much I do love her and how important she is and how much joy she brings into my life,” she said.

Katy and her husband are still caring for children in foster care. She says they hope to add to their family and adopt again when the time is right.